Cartoons, Fries, and Plans with the Guys
by gjficfan
Summary: Edward reflects on life with his adopted daughter, Tia, first when she arrives right before Bella and Emmett's wedding, and then almost a year later at her 4th birthday party. Companion story to "The Wednesday Dinner Thing." Rated M for language and themes. AH, AU, OOC. Non-canon pairings: A/Ed, B/Em, R/C, Es/J.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight**_**. I just continue to play mix and match with her characters. **

**You all know the drill by now, I go where the characters lead, and this just poured out of me the other day. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Many, many thanks to my incredible beta, ExquisiteEdward. I appreciate all of your thoughts and insights. You always make things better!**

* * *

_**The Wednesday Dinner Thing:  
Cartoons, Fries, and Plans with the Guys**_

**EdPOV**

"_Dinosaur Train_ or _Busytown Mysteries_?" I asked Tia as I held up the two cases. She pointed to Buddy and his friends from the _Dinosaur Train_ and I quickly stuck in the DVD.

Tia settled into her little blue and pink armchair while Tempo and Fresco rested on the floor beside it. Until recently, I didn't know anything about toddler-sized armchairs or CGI dinosaurs that rode on trains.

But since my little three-year-old cousin had come to live with us a month ago, I knew those things and so much more. Most importantly, I was accepting that Tia wasn't just my cousin anymore; she was my daughter as well. Legally, that wasn't the case yet, but my heart said otherwise.

"We'll go eat soon, okay?" I told her. She looked up at me with those big green eyes and nodded before quickly turning back to the TV. Once I determined that she was sufficiently distracted, I quietly made my way back downstairs. Mom and Taz were in the kitchen, and I was determined to find out what the hell was going on with them.

My parents had arrived on Monday, the day after Christmas, for Bella and Emmett's upcoming wedding. But since they'd been here, my mother and my wife had barely spoken to each other. When I asked either of them what their problem was, both insisted that they were "fine." Yet, the tension around them was so thick you could cut it.

My Dad wasn't the cause, and he was currently hanging out with Bella's Dad, Charlie. This was my best chance to find out exactly what was going on. I heard their raised voices before I made it to the bottom of the steps. Not caring that I shouldn't be eavesdropping, I stayed hidden so I could listen.

"... not my fault she wouldn't eat her dinner," Taz said. "She'd been eating fine until you got here."

"It's obvious that she's not comfortable around you," my Mom replied. "You clearly don't spend enough time with her."

"Maybe she's not comfortable because you keep messing up her routine," Taz snapped.

"There's no need for you to get defensive," Mom said. "Maybe you're feeling guilty."

So my Mom had been criticizing Taz about Tia. Un-fucking-believable. Part of me wanted to run right in there and tell my Mom to mind her business, but I needed to hear what more she'd been saying to Taz all week because neither one of them would tell me.

"There's no reason for me to feel guilty," Taz said. "I think we've done a great job considering we've never been around kids."

"That's all the more reason for you to devote yourself to your family."

"How am I not devoted to my family?" Taz asked.

"We all know that you don'thave to work," my Mom said.

"But I do," Taz replied, "and I have responsibilities to my clients."

"Maybe you did before, but now you have a child. She has to come first."

"She_ does_ come first. One of us is with her all the time."

"A _mother _should be the primary caregiver," Mom said loudly. "That's just how it is, Alice."

I loved my Mom, but she had no right to criticize us like this. Not after we'd rearranged our entire lives to make room for Tia. Now I understood why Taz had been so distant all week.

"We're doing the best we can," Taz said, raising her voice as well. "We've had her for a month, and we love her like she's our own. You're not giving us any credit at all."

"Edward has put his life on hold," Mom said. "You haven't. She's a little girl, and she needs you around. You're a mother now."

"I'm not stupid, Liz. I know I'm her mother now."

"Well, I'm sorry, but you're not acting like it. If you really cared about helping her adjust, you'd stop working altogether."

"She needs a parent here. And like I told you, one of us is always with her. I have cut back on my hours, _a lot_, but I've worked hard for my career, and I'm not quitting."

"Alice, you're a hair stylist. I hate to be so blunt about it, but it's not like you're saving lives. Your family needs you... at home."

That was the fucking last straw; I could take no more. I took deep breaths through my flared nostrils and pinched the bridge of my nose to try to release some of my anger. Too bad none of that helped. I entered the kitchen and found them both glaring at each other.

"So this is what's been going on all week," I said. When I realized that Taz was crying, my anger level shot from five to ten.

"Edward, this really doesn't concern you," my Mom said. "_You're_ doing all that you can."

"_We're_ doing all that we can," I said, more loudly than I'd intended, as I walked over to stand with Taz. "And anything that goes on in this house concerns me."

"Let's not fight," Taz said, wiping her face. "I don't want you two to have problems. Liz and I just don't agree on me working, that's all. No big deal." She started crying much harder.

Before I could pull her into a hug, she ran out of the room and up the steps. I wanted to follow her because I knew she needed me, but I had to talk to Mom first. I had to let her know my feelings on the situation.

"You know that I love you," I said after taking a few breaths to calm down. "But I'm so mad at you right now I can barely see straight."

"How can you be mad at_ me_?" she asked, looking genuinely stunned that I wasn't on her side. "All I want is for Tia to be happy. She's been through so much already."

"That's what we want too," I said. "And we've changed our whole lives to make room for her, even before we brought her home."

"Alice should be at home," she said, her lip quivering. "Sasha was too busy with school, and it's about time Tia had a real mother."

"Whether Sasha spent time with her or not has nothing to do with us," I said. "You have no idea how much Taz has changed her schedule to make time for Tia. So it's a little fu... _freaking_... insulting for you to walk in here and say that she hasn't. You are _way_ out of line."

"I just want what's best for that little girl," my Mom said, crying now. "She's all I have left. She's been through too much."

"I agree," I said. "But we're her parents now. You and Angie are busy with the triplets, and we're the only ones who could take her."

I knew I shouldn't have said that because it was a low blow and made my mother cry even more, but she hadn't been playing fair, so I wasn't either. She wanted to keep Tia, but she was already stretched thin with my nieces.

"We're happy to do it because Tia deserves a good home and a good life," I said. "But you have to live with our decisions. If we decide to get nannies to be with her around the clock, you just have to deal with it."

"Don't do that," my Mom said, sobbing. "She needs her family."

"We won't do that, but I'm making the point that we could if we wanted to. You can't tell us how to raise her, or criticize everything we've done to make her comfortable here."

"I'm sorry," she cried into my shirt as I hugged her. I needed to get upstairs and check on Taz, but I couldn't leave my Mom like this either.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," I said. "You basically called Taz a bad wife and mother. How do you think that makes her feel? How do you think it makes _me_ feel?"

I could feel her shaking as she cried, and she mumbled a bunch of things in the time she spent clinging to me and crying. I knew that part of the problem was that she was still grieving over the death of my cousin, Sasha, who was Tia's biological mother. My Mom considered her a daughter, and had been devastated when she got the news of Sasha's suicide after the death of Tia's dad. However, lashing out at Taz was not going to bring Sasha back or help Tia adjust to life here.

"I'm guessing this is about Alice working," my Dad said, entering the kitchen. His question confirmed my suspicion that this wasn't the first time this week the topic had come up. Apparently, I was the only one not in the know.

"You got it," I said. He frowned a little as he looked at Mom, then he walked to her. She went from my arms to his, still crying.

"We're taking Tia out for dinner," I said to him. "We'll be back soon." He nodded, as my Mom cried harder.

Tia was very sensitive, and was only just getting used to the routine we were trying to establish. When she got really upset, or nervous or scared, she sometimes wouldn't eat; that's what was happening this week with my Mom here trying to take over everything.

When I got upstairs, I peeked in on Tia and wasn't surprised to find her smiling at the TV as she talked quietly to herself, repeating some of the lines from the show. I'd found her quite a few times talking with her dolls, the TV, or Tempo and Fresco. She could definitely talk, but she didn't talk around other people often.

I also wasn't surprised to find Taz on the phone when I got to our bedroom. But I _was _surprised by who she was talking to.

"Hang on, Angie," she said. "He just walked in." I sat on the bed beside her and she handed me her cell phone.

"Hello?" I couldn't really believe Taz and my sister, Angie, were voluntarily having a conversation. They'd bonded a little more when my family visited for Bella's surprise party, but I never thought they'd actually stay in contact.

"Hey," Angie replied. "Alice told me what happened."

"Nobody would tell me anything," I said. "I had to eavesdrop to find out."

I got closer to Taz, put my arm around her, and kissed her forehead. She wrapped her arms around my midsection and rested against my chest. I could still tell she'd been crying, but she was much calmer and for that I was thankful.

"Mom did the same thing to me," Angie said, sounding very upset.

"Really?" I asked. "I thought she was okay with you going back to work."

"You would because you always have your head up her ass," she said. "Mom has _never_ been okay with me going back to work. She's still mad about it actually." Her comments left me speechless. I had no idea.

"That's why I called Alice last week," Angie continued. "I had a feeling Mom would start in on her too."

"Why didn't anybody tell me?" I asked, sounding whiny, even to myself.

"Because Mama's boy that you are, we knew you'd run and tell her what we said." Taz looked up at me and smirked; she heard at least part of what Angie said.

"I don't like being kept in the dark about all this stuff," I said.

"Open your eyes then, pretty boy," Angie replied. I could do nothing but laugh.

"You know I love her," Angie added, "but Mom definitely thinks women should stay at home while men work. I can't even say it's her whole generation because Eric's mother doesn't feel that way at all."

I never really thought of my Mom as being a meddler, but I'd just seen her in action with my own eyes. I didn't know what else to say on the matter, so I changed the subject.

"Are you still coming Friday?" I asked my sister. Angie and my brother-in-law, Eric, were coming for the wedding, but since they were only visiting for the weekend, they were leaving the triplets back home with his family this time.

"Yes. So don't conveniently forget to pick us up," she said.

"I won't, but only because of Maggie," I replied with a grin. "She'll be upset if I don't."

Angie had become quite close with Rose's sister-in-law, Maggie, the week of Bella's surprise party. Maggie would be attending the wedding too, and so would all of Rose's family except her oldest brother; he couldn't get off from work.

"Whatever, just be there," Angie said with a chuckle as she hung up the phone.

I was actually surprised by how many people who'd come for Bella's surprise party were also coming back for the wedding. But people made real connections that weekend, and many were coming to see each other again more than they were coming for the actual wedding.

I put the phone on the nightstand and turned my attention back to Taz.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"I didn't mean to leave you up here by yourself," I said. "But I had to let her know that she was wrong and way out of line."

"I knew you were down there defending me." She smiled up at me, but I could still sense how sad she was by the whole situation with my mother. I held her tighter and kissed her before I spoke again.

"Did you really think I would side with my Mom over you?" I asked.

"It wasn't about you picking a side," she said after a long sigh. "You're so close with her, and I just didn't want you to fight with her. Angie warned me she'd bring up my working, but I never thought she'd harp on it all week, or get so nasty about it."

"If something like this happens again, you need to let me know," I said. "Whether it's my Mom or anybody else. She had no right to come in here and call you a bad wife and mother, and that's what I told her. I love you."

"Thank you," she whispered. "I love you too."

"C'mon," I said as I slapped her lightly on the ass. "I know Tia's hungry, and there's some chicken nuggets at Mickey D's with her name on them."

"You take her to McDonald's all the time, but I'm the bad parent," she replied, chuckling, as she stood to get ready. "Does Liz know about_ that_?"

"Chicken is protein," I said seriously. "She needs that to grow."

Taz just kept chuckling as we got ready. She knew I didn't take Tia to McDonald's _all the time_ like she'd said, but we'd struggled to figure out _what_ she liked to eat over the course of this past month. Tia was a picky eater, and when we found something she liked, we made sure to remember it. So for right now, if our daughter happened to like McDonald's chicken nuggets and they were keeping her from being hungry, then that's what she would have.

* * *

"Oh my god, that's Rose and Carlisle," Taz said, laughing, as I parked. "I'll see if they're coming in."

I took Tia out of her car seat, put my coat over her head to keep her from getting wet in the rain, and hurried inside.

"Her go?" Tia asked once we were inside. She pointed outside as I removed my coat from around her.

"She'll be back," I replied with a grin. "Are you hungry?" She looked around at the bright lights and nodded as I walked to the counter to place our order.

"She's soo flipping cute!" the teenage girl behind the cash register said.

"Thanks," I said as a grin spread across my face.

I didn't have a thing to do with her looks, but the fact remained that Tia was the cutest kid I'd ever seen, and people acknowledged it everywhere we went. Tia had green eyes like mine, and pouty little pink lips. Her long, wavy light-brown hair came past her shoulders, but Taz usually put it in a ponytail, braid, or bun, always with little holders or bows to match her outfits. And with all the shopping that Taz, Rose, and Esme had done for her, Tia already had more clothes than I did.

"Aww! Look at her little pea coat," said another cashier.

"And her little boots with the polka dots," said a third. "So cute!"

Tia clung a little tighter to me as I held her, while they continued to talk about her. She was very shy, and I liked that I was one of the few people she felt comfortable around.

Unfortunately, there weren't many customers inside to distract the cashiers; because of the rain, most people were going through the drive thru. Normally, we would have too, but we wanted to get out of the house for a while. Hopefully, my Dad would talk some sense into my Mom while we were out.

I had barely finished placing our order when I heard the now-familiar voice of Rose.

"Hi, little Tee!" she sang as if I wasn't even present.

"Rose," Tia said softly, even though her_ r's_ sounded more like _w's_ which always made me smile.

"Hand her over," Rose demanded, bumping against me with her protruding stomach. I quickly complied. She hitched Tia onto her hip, hugged her tightly, and walked away to a seating area to the right of the counter. Taz followed her, and began wiping off a few tables before she took off her coat.

Rose had been a real lifesaver for us since we brought Tia home. She was simply at ease around children, and we were only just now getting to that point. Her calmness made Tia calm and they were very close. Tia was more responsive and expressive around Rose than she was around Taz. I knew it hurt Taz's feelings a little, but ultimately she just wanted the same thing I did, for Tia to be loved, cared for, and happy. And she genuinely appreciated Rose taking her time to help us.

"Thank god we ran into you guys," Carlisle said when he walked in. "We've all been trying to get you for the last two days."

"Sorry," I said. "Long story. Umm, what are you doing here anyway?" I tried not to laugh, but it was very odd seeing Carlisle Cullen inside of a McDonald's.

"Do you need to ask?" he said, smirking at me. "Pregnant wife. French fries and McFlurries are all the rage this week at my house."

"Isn't it early for cravings?" I asked.

"No," he said with a laugh. "She's had them the whole time, but they change. And I'm tired of getting screamed at, so I don't say shit about it anymore. My daughter will probably weigh twenty pounds when she's born, but we'll deal with it."

I laughed at Carlisle, and he laughed along with me before he placed their order. He might be griping, but he was a happy guy these days; he hadn't stopped smiling since they found out they were having a girl.

And when Rose wasn't complaining about her changing body, she spent her time arguing. She'd always been... direct, but now, she was out of control. If you said _anything_ that she even remotely disagreed with, you had to be prepared to be cussed out. All of us guys had quickly learned to just shut the hell up and stay out of her way. She wasn't quite so adversarial with the women.

"I'm sorry if you've been trying to get us. It's been a crazy few days. Neither one of us has checked our phone much."

"Save the story," he said, holding up his hand. "You can tell us all at once. The others will be here soon. Rose just texted them."

"I didn't realize _which_ McDonald's this was," I said as I shook my head. We were at the closest one to our house, which also happened to be literally a block away from Jasper's place and Jake's too.

"It _is _Wednesday after all," Carlisle said. "Even fate expects us to get together for dinner." He was right; we never seemed able to go more than a few weeks without somehow getting together for dinner.

"We just picked up our gift," he continued. "I was ordered to come here on our way home. We were just about to go through the drive thru when we saw you guys."

"We need to pick up our gift tomorrow," I said when I stopped laughing at him being bossed around by Rose. "I can't believe the wedding's almost here."

Our orders arrived at almost the same time and we walked to the seats where Taz, Rose, and Tia were sitting.

Tia sat on my lap and dove right into her nuggets and apple slices. I was happy she was eating, but I wasn't happy that my Mom had made things so tense in our house that Tia wasn't comfortable in the first place.

I'd just taken a bite of my food when the door opened and in walked Emmett, Bella, Leah, and Jake. The rowdy round of greetings that followed left me feeling sorry for the few other patrons.

"We were over at Jake and Leah's," Bella said. She took off her coat and followed Leah who never even stopped on her way to the register.

"Tiny, I thought you ditched me," Emmett said as he squeezed into the seat next to Taz, wet coat and all.

"I wouldn't do that," she said. "We've just been..."

"Where have you two been?" Esme asked as she walked in next with Jasper. A second round of loud greetings and talking followed, and we never really got a chance to give her an answer. Jasper went up to the register to place their order, while Esme talked with some of the others before she settled into a seat. She never really stopped talking.

Tia stopped eating, and I felt her tense up a little before she leaned back so that she was closer to me. I pulled her to me, and watched as she looked around at the others. She'd only ever been around the_ entire_ gang once or twice, and she definitely felt ill at ease around big groups.

"It's just all your crazy aunts and uncles," Taz said quietly to her. "You're okay." She lightly tickled Tia, who wriggled a little and smiled. That did the trick and she sat back up and kept eating.

"Here, I brought her LeapPad," Taz said as she opened her purse and handed it to me. "Maybe that'll distract her so she won't get so nervous."

"Good thinking." I pulled up one of the games that she liked and set it on the table next to our tray. Tia instantly starting pressing on it with one hand while she clutched a chicken nugget in the other. When I looked up, everyone was back at the tables, watching us and smiling.

"Not that I'm complaining," Bella said after she finished a bite of her food, "but what brought you two here?"

"We've been calling you both since yesterday," Esme said before we could answer.

"We stopped by twice," Carlisle added.

"And we stopped over on our way to Jake's earlier," Emmett said. "Your mom just said you were out, but she looked upset." Taz and I both grunted and rolled our eyes.

"You look upset yourself, Alice," said Leah.

"Is it your Mom?" Rose asked me. "When we were there yesterday, she was a little snippy and she's never been like that before."

"It'd be nice if y'all would let 'em tell the story," Jasper said. Everyone chuckled and apologized, and made big productions of eating so as to indicate they were shutting up.

"Long story short," Taz said after a long sigh, "we came here to get a break from my mother-in-law."

Many looks were exchanged, a few in my direction, at her tone when she said _mother-in-law_. I wasn't upset though because she would be justified in calling my Mom a lot worse than that right now.

"The holidays are my busiest time of the year," Taz continued, "and I've rescheduled my clients as much as I can. I worked all day yesterday, and this morning too."

"And my Mom's not happy about that," I said.

"Whenever she's been able to catch me alone," Taz said, "she's spent the week telling me that I need to quit working now that I'm a mother. And because I won't, that means I don't care about..." She couldn't say the last word, but they all knew who she meant: Tia.

"That is total bullshit!" Emmett said, completely forgetting about Tia. Realizing what he said, he flinched and muttered, "Sorry."

Tia didn't seem to have paid any attention to him; she was still eating and touching the screen on her LeapPad.

"No problem," I said. "You're completely right."

"I can't believe she said that," Bella said, looking back and forth between us.

"It doesn't make sense anyway," Esme said. "One of you is with her all the time. She's never been left with a stranger."

"I just said to Rose the other day that you two have gone above and beyond in all that you've done," Carlisle said. "You've rearranged your whole lives."

"Well, according to my Mom," I said, "none of that matters. Even though I'm home all the time."

"I'm supposed to be there, because I'm the woman," Taz said. "I'm the Mom. Who cares that I have a job, or that I have clients. Doesn't matter."

"That was pretty bold of her to say right to your face in your own house," Leah said, shaking her head.

"Liz is wrong, Alice. You're doing great," Bella said.

"Thanks," Taz said. "So tonight, when she wouldn't eat," she motioned to Tia, "that started a whole new argument."

"If your Mom spent any time with her, she would know she's a picky eater," Emmett said, looking furious. Taz and Emmett considered themselves brother and sister, and he clearly didn't like seeing his sister so upset.

"I know," I replied.

"She can feel all the tension in the house too," Taz said, looking to Tia again. "She hadn't eaten much today or yesterday, and we know she likes the chicken nuggets here. So, here we are."

"Don't feel bad, Alice," Rose said. "I've already had the same discussion with my Mom. She doesn't think I should be working, even while I'm pregnant. Because I don't_ have_ to anymore."

"I never understood what that has to do with anything," Bella said, looking disgusted. "Just because you have money, does it mean you're not supposed to want to do anything with your life anymore? It's insane."

"I told Tanya that I'm working up until the end unless I have a medical issue or something," Rose said. "I'd go crazy sitting at home all day."

"I don't know if I'll want to work or not after I have kids," Esme said. "But I certainly wouldn't appreciate my mother, or Jasper's, trying to make the decision for me."

Everyone nodded in agreement. I was surprised the conversation had turned so heavy, but of course, someone quickly lightened the mood.

"My Mom can't wait for me to have the baby and go back to work," Leah said. "She already thinks my baby is hers. If I'm at work, it'll be easy for her to stake her claim." We all laughed.

"How did your mother act with your sister?" Jasper asked me. "She's back at work now."

"I didn't know it, but she gave her a hard time too," I replied.

"Alice, I'm glad you stood your ground," Rose said. "Maggie wants to go back to work, but she's tired of fighting about it with my Mom and my brother. So she's given up for now, and she says she'll wait until the baby is a year old. But I know Austin, he'll never want her to go back to work."

"I never realized what a huge deal this is," Emmett said. "Who works or who doesn't when you have kids. It's a lot to think about."

"It is," Carlisle said. "Rose and I have already started talking about daycare and maybe having a nanny. It seems so simple, but then you realize, you're talking about trusting someone else with the most important thing in your life. It's a major undertaking."

"What did your Dad have to say?" Jake asked me.

"I don't think he realized just how much my Mom has said all week. Because I didn't either," I answered. "But once she tells him how mad I was today, he'll probably tell me to apologize. I love my Mom, but I'm not apologizing. We're not in the wrong here."

"You're not," Carlisle agreed. "Like I said before, you two have done more than most people would have."

"And you can tell she's happy," Leah said. "She's quiet, but she's happy." Again, everyone stopped to look at Tia who was taking a drink of milk.

"So Alice has been working. But where have_ you_ been?" Jasper asked me.

"I must have been walking the dogs or something each time you guys stopped by. It's been tense at our place this week, maybe I walked them a little longer than normal." I smiled and everyone laughed.

"And I saw all your texts and calls, but I didn't want anybody to be upset about all this stuff right before the wedding," Taz said. "So I didn't call anybody back or anything. I was hoping things would be better by the weekend. I'm sorry."

"That's another thing that ticked me off," I said, mad all over again. "My Mom's not supposed to be here telling us everything we're doing wrong. She's supposed to be here for the wedding."

"This is just one more reason I'm _so_ glad I hired Cindy," Bella said. "I knew we'd all be busy with the holidays and our families. She's been great."

Cindy was Bella's wedding planner, and she was the cousin of someone Bella had worked with at the Initiative. At first, us guys thought that Taz and Esme would be upset, because they'd already started planning the wedding way back when Emmett proposed.

But then Taz and I found out about Tia, and we'd been wrapped up in preparations for her. And Esme got very busy with her TV show which had become really popular. So, we were all thankful that Cindy had taken the stress of the wedding planning off of the rest of us.

"You two seem pretty calm, so that's good," I said to Bella and Emmett. They smiled at each other.

"We've got two mothers and two stepmothers going crazy for us," Emmett said as we all laughed. His dad's girlfriend wasn't officially his stepmother yet, but Emmett loved her and that's all that mattered.

"We're just about set for the party too," Rose said.

"I've never done anything fun for New Year's Eve," Esme replied. "I can't wait."

Carlisle and Rose decided to have a party at their place on Saturday night, after the rehearsal dinner, so we could all bring in the New Year together. With all our various family members in the mix, it was sure to be lively. It was a really good idea anyway because not everyone invited to the wedding was invited to the bachelor and bachelorette parties or the rehearsal dinner. However, everyone was invited to attend Carlisle and Rose's party.

"Jasper, didn't you say you had new pictures of the baby?" Leah asked after we'd talked for a while.

"Glad you remembered," he said. He pulled out his phone and passed it around.

"That's Maria and Melissa." We'd met his niece, Maria, at the birthday party, and in the picture she grinned widely as she held her new month-old little sister.

"If only their mamas got along so well," Jasper added as we all looked at the picture and laughed.

"So many girls," Jake said. "Good thing we're having a boy to break the trend." He grinned from ear to ear.

"What?" Rose shouted. "Congratulations!"

"You didn't tell us," Esme said as she leaned over to hug Leah.

"We just found out today," Leah said. She rubbed her stomach which stood out almost as much as Rose's even though she was just about four months along and Rose was a little over five. That sparked another loud round of talking.

"She really was hungry," Taz said to me away from all the other conversations. Tia had eaten all of her food which was rare.

"Looks like it," I said as we both watched Tia play on her LeapPad as the others talked and laughed. When Tia yawned, I was glad because I was ready to go.

"We really should get going," I said to the group. There were groans all around, like there always were at the end of our dinners. Taz pulled Tia's coat out and started putting it on her.

"Alice, I love her little coat," Leah said.

"Thanks," Taz replied with a smile. Bella, Leah, Rose, and Esme had all come over and stood around us, smiling and talking to Tia and Taz.

"I need those boots," Bella said to Tia, smiling. As soon as Taz had all the buttons done, Tia reached for me. I picked her up and she instantly tucked her head into my neck.

"Awww," they all said as I stood up and shook my head.

"She's not used to people crowded all around her," I said. "None of you would like it if people were standing all around you, staring all in your face."

"Sorry, _Dad_," Rose said with a snort. Esme grinned up at me.

"Alice, he's so protective," Leah said as she laughed.

"She's a Daddy's girl," Bella added which started them all gushing again. I rolled my eyes and walked toward the door we'd come in. They kept talking to Taz, about a final fitting for all the dresses, while I walked away.

"They don't mean any harm," I said to Tia. "They love you too."

I clutched her tiny frame to me, marveling at how fragile she always seemed in my arms. I'd only really known her for a month now, yet I already knew that I would give everything I had to keep her safe and happy. I took great comfort in the fact that she sought me out when she felt stressed; in my mind, it was proof that my Mom didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

"Hey, what time is good for you tomorrow?" Jake asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I can get away anytime during the day," I said. "Tomorrow night's not good though. We've gotta pick up their gifts."

"Can you come over to Jasper's at one?" he asked. "We_ have_ to nail the final plans down." He meant the plans for the bachelor party. We'd been trying to figure out exactly what to do for months. We were almost out of time.

"I'll be there, but I'm good with anything."

"Cool," he said to me before he looked at Tia.

"Bye, gorgeous," he said with a grin.

"Bye," she said quietly as she waved to him. Jasper and Carlisle approached me then as Jake went over to distract Emmett.

"You good for one tomorrow, my place?" Jasper asked.

"Yup," I replied. "I told Jake I'm good for whatever. I don't wanna be the only holdout. I'll do what the group wants."

"I'll see you then," Carlisle said. "I'm supposed to be over here getting another McFlurry for the road. I better get in line before she notices. Goodbye, beautiful girl." Again, Tia waved, never lifting her head from where it rested against me.

"Have you made an appointment yet?" Jasper asked.

"We did," I said. "We're taking her next Thursday."

We were taking Tia to see a child psychologist next week. Jasper had recommended several, and Taz really liked one of them. I was just glad that she hadn't had any bad reactions to the therapists considering her past, but Taz seemed focused on making sure that Tia had everything she needed to adjust.

"Good," he said, never taking his eyes off of Tia. "Your mama might not think so, but you two are doin' a great job."

I couldn't thank him because Emmett decided at that moment that he needed to make an announcement to everyone in McDonald's.

"Just so we're clear, this does _not_ count as my bachelor party," he yelled. And like we always seemed to do, we parted in laughter.

* * *

"So do you think I'm being too uptight?" I asked Taz as we watched Tia eat her breakfast.

"No. I don't think Emmett would like that either, but like you said, if that's what everybody else wants, just go with it."

"Do you think Bella will be upset?" I asked. She snorted.

"She won't be after our shower. There's talk of us getting one too. You know, a male one. But don't say anything."

"I'd pay to see Bella's reaction to that," I said, laughing.

"That's why Leah wants to do it," she said, laughing too. "She thinks it'll be funny."

I shook my head and smiled. I'm glad I'd talked to Taz because I felt better. I'd been the lone holdout with regard to having a stripper at Emmett's bachelor party or going to a strip club. I just didn't think Emmett would enjoy that sort of thing, and it wasn't exactly something I wanted either.

"Even Jasper's on board," I said. "He says that having women,_ like that_, at bachelor parties is an 'established social convention'. Those were his exact words." I had to remember not to say "strippers" around Tia.

"Like I've always said, just call him Dr. Feel Good," Taz replied. We both laughed.

"Mmmm," Tia said as she ate her breakfast.

"I know, it's soo good," Taz said, grinning at our little girl. We spent the rest of the time focused on Tia until Taz had to leave for her first client.

"I'll see you later," she said as she kissed Tia on the cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too," Taz said to me, giving me a kiss as well. "And I guess you better go get some dollar bills between now and tomorrow." I laughed pretty loudly as I watched her leave.

Tia stared after her and then said "Bye" in her soft little voice. I noticed that she watched Taz a lot, but she didn't talk or smile much around her. It was like she was going through some sort of evaluation of Taz in her head and her little jury of one was still out. But I saw the little smiles she gave Taz or the few words she uttered after Taz left.

"Oh, hi Liz," I heard Taz say when she'd almost reached the front door. She'd parked her car on the street so the garage door wouldn't wake anyone. I would hope that my mother was out there apologizing. If not, she and I would have a problem. It was a few minutes before I heard the door close.

"Good morning, Edward," my Mom said as she entered the kitchen. Her face was splotchy; she'd clearly been crying all night.

"Morning," I said. She leaned down and kissed Tia, then stared at her for a bit.

"I apologized to Alice," she said after she fixed herself a cup of coffee and sat down.

"Thank you," I said. "She loves Tia as much as we all do."

"Your father says I have to let you kids make your own decisions." She paused and watched Tia who was calmly eating her toast and attempting to feed some to her stuffed animal.

"When your father and I married, we always knew I'd stay at home with you kids," she said. "The women stayed at home; that's how I was raised. And that was fine by me because that's what I wanted." She finally looked up at me.

"I can't lie," she said. "I'd like it if Angie and Alice felt the same way. But they don't, and your father says I have to accept that."

"He's right," I said.

"I know," she said with a frown. "But that doesn't mean I can just accept it overnight."

"I think your Mom knows she pushed a little too hard," my Dad said as he entered the kitchen. "And I think Edward can accept your apology and move on." My Dad had spoken, and that was basically the end of the discussion.

My mother and I looked at each other and smiled. I truly hoped this marked the end of all the tension for now anyway. I had a feeling that where Tia was concerned, we'd always have a little well-meaning interference from my Mom.

* * *

"So everybody agrees?" Jake asked, looking at me.

"It's fine with me," I replied.

"It's just a little harmless fun," Carlisle said. He too looked directly at me.

"I keep telling you guys I'm fine," I replied. "It's not like I've never seen tits before." Everyone laughed.

We'd been at Jasper's for the last several hours, hashing out the particulars of Emmett's bachelor party. Ultimately, we decided on cars, food, poker, and against my advice, female entertainment. I was hoping we'd be done soon. Taz had called a little while ago. She was done with her clients for the day and was back at home with Tia. I was praying that my Mom wouldn't start in on her again. I was itching to get back so I could see for myself.

"I just don't want you to be mad or anything," Jake said. I was starting to get a little annoyed.

"I'm not some big prude," I said. "I just didn't think it was something Emmett would like, knowing how he feels about Bella, and especially because his sister-in-law was almost a stripper. I wasn't sure how he'd feel about it. But if you all disagree, that's okay. No big deal."

"I think every guy deserves the chance to look at some ass one last time before he gets hitched," Jasper said.

"So says the psychologist," I replied, shaking my head, as everyone laughed again.

"I keep tellin' y'all, I'm a guy first," he said, laughing too. I had a feeling that we would all be in for a _wild _time at his bachelor party in Texas next year, especially with his brothers planning it.

"Have you ever seen strippers before?" Carlisle asked me. "Is that why you're uncomfortable?"

"I'm _not _uncomfortable," I insisted. "And yes, I have been to other bachelor parties, for guys from the WTA. They had strippers. It's not my thing, but I get that some people like it. I just didn't think Emmett would want that and I said so. But for the last time, if you all disagree, then that's fine."

"Okay, then," Carlisle said. "I'll call Uncle Cai to confirm."

"He might not like it," Jasper said to me. "But I think the compromise is good." Jake nodded in agreement.

The compromise was that instead of going to a strip club, we'd meet after dinner in one of the private rooms at Caius's night club. That's where we'd have the poker game, _hosted_ by several women who happened to work in the adult entertainment industry.

"All right, here's the plan," Jake said. "We pick him up Friday afternoon and we drive to a spa. We get out and make him think we're going in for facials and manicures and stuff."

We all thought that would be funny as hell. I couldn't wait for Emmett's reaction.

"Then we drive him to the rally school for the two-hour class."

"He'll love that," Carlisle said after he got off of the phone. We knew that Emmett loved cars, so Jake had found some racing school that offered an hour of training and then an hour of driving the actual race cars.

"Then we'll go to the steakhouse," Jake said. "I already talked to my Dad and Charlie and they're leaving after that. Then, we go to the club with the poker game and the entertainment. Sound good?" We all agreed.

Whether or not to invite the older guys had added an entirely different wrinkle to the planning. Some of the older guys, like Carlisle's uncle, Caius, and Emmett's Dad, Steve, were wilder than I ever had been. They'd be totally up for the poker game and women.

However, Bella's Dad, Charlie, was a retired cop who might not want to partake in any gambling or other activities. We also knew that he might not take too kindly to seeing his future son-in-law carousing with strippers. Also, Bella's stepbrother, Seth, was too young for the gambling and stripping, so he wouldn't be going to the poker game either.

Jake invited almost all of the men who'd be in town for the wedding to dinner at the steakhouse, but not everyone would be going racing with us or coming to the club for the poker game.

"As far as the costs, just to verify, I'm taking care of the racing school," Jake said. "Edward's taking care of dinner, Jasper's getting the limos, and Carlisle's paying his uncle for the club and the dancers. Everybody okay with that?" We all nodded; it's what we agreed.

"And any money any of the other guys chip in, we'll split, correct?" Again, we nodded.

"What's the final count of who's going?" Carlisle asked.

"Eight for the rally cars," Jake said. "The four of us, plus Em and his dad, then Seth, and Vera's son.

"Then, I think we have twenty-five for dinner. And about fifteen for the club and the poker game."

"Thanks for planning all of this, Jake," I said. "I haven't been much help."

"No problem," he said. "You've had important shit going on." Carlisle and Jasper thanked him as well.

"Does anybody know what the women are doing for Bella?" Carlisle asked. "I know better than to ask Rose." We laughed; he was right to be afraid of asking Rose anything these days.

"Last I heard, they were having a couple of male strippers and then a sex toy party," Jake said.

"That party might turn out good for all of us," Jasper said as we cracked up. I shook my head and thought about Taz's "Dr. Feel Good" comment. We knew each other fairly well by now, and Jasper definitely talked sex more than the rest of us guys. No wonder Esme was so happy all the time.

* * *

I honked the horn and waved to my parents when I turned into _Forest Crossing._ They were walking Tempo and Fresco, and had made it all the way down near the condos. I was still a little ticked with my Mom, but Taz had accepted her apology and was trying to move on, and that's all I could ask for.

"You know, it's polite to warn people when you're about to take their picture," Taz said as I plopped down on our bed beside her and Tia.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," I said with a big grin.

When I got home and walked up the steps to our bedroom, the scene in front of me had compelled me to pull out my phone and snap the picture. Taz and Tia were sitting on our bed. Between them sat a big creepy ass Barbie doll head on a stand, and they were combing its hair. My wife and daughter both looked about as peaceful and happy as I'd seen them since Tia had come to live with us.

"You sit on the hair," Tia said to me, pointing at my leg. I lifted up and found that I was sitting on a long pink hair extension which I removed and handed to her.

"I'm _sorry_," I said to Tia as I tickled her and she smiled.

"Wow, a whole sentence that time," Taz said. "And a smile." She was still staring at the picture I'd taken on my phone of herself and Tia.

"I told you she talks when she feels like it," I said. "And apparently when people sit on her toys."

"It's nice to hear, and see," Taz whispered as she put my phone on the nightstand.

"Bachelor party all planned now?" Taz asked when she'd recovered a bit.

"All set. I think he'll enjoy it. I heard what you all are doing for Bella." She smirked.

"All I know is I'm not touching any _toys _that aren't brand new." We both laughed for a while at that.

"How were your clients?" I asked.

"Good," she said. "I'm kind of glad I don't have anyone else scheduled until Tuesday."

"You wouldn't have time anyway."

"I know," she replied. "I can't believe the year's almost over and the wedding's almost here."

I couldn't either. Tomorrow night we'd have the bachelor and bachelorette parties, Saturday was the rehearsal dinner, followed by Rose and Carlisle's New Year's Eve party, and then the wedding on Sunday evening.

"This has been a year I'll never forget," I said.

"I won't either," Taz replied. "Look at all that's happened, just since July."

I knew what she meant. That's when we met the gang, and I honestly couldn't believe we hadn't even known them this time last year. And then there was Tia as well. Life had been difficult the last few months as we took the steps we needed to prepare for her, and then tried so hard to learn how to care for her when we brought her home. What happened to my cousin, and to Tia's Dad, had been horrible, but it felt right with her here.

"I would have been running around like crazy, trying to help with the wedding," Taz said as she continued to watch Tia. The love she felt was written all over her face. "Now, I'm really glad Bella got the wedding planner."

"Uh oh," Tia said to Taz when the little pink comb got tangled up in the doll's hair.

"Here, we can fix it together," Taz said. She gave Tia a little brush and guided her hand as they worked out the tangles.

I knew this weekend promised to bring a lot of drama and excitement into our lives, and I'd be there to help Emmett if and when he needed me. But if I needed to calm down, I knew I wouldn't have to look any further than to the people I loved the most, both of whom were sitting beside me now.

* * *

**A/N: And so we have a little of the wedding happenings, mixed in with the arrival of Tia in Alice and Edward's lives.**

**The wedding story is in the works; I promise ;0)**

**As always, thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns **_**Twilight. **_**I'm just playing mix and match with her characters. **

**- -I'm submitting this unbeta'd. **

**- -Notes at the end, including an important one about Fandom Fights Hurricane Sandy! **

* * *

**The Wednesday Dinner Thing:**

**Cartoons, Fries, and Plans with the Guys, Chapter 2**

**EdPOV**

**Thursday, August 16, 2012**

I laughed as I listened to Carlisle and Emmett argue about whether calling shotgun worked for adults.

"Just get the fuck in," Jasper said from the back of my Land Rover. "I'm starvin'."

Apparently, Carlisle won because he got in the front passenger seat and Emmett got in back; they both laughed as they put on their seatbelts.

"Where to?" I asked as I backed out of my driveway.

"Red Robin?" Emmett asked without hesitation.

"Works for me," Jasper said.

"Sounds good," I said.

"I need a better class of friends," Carlisle muttered. "I used to eat at the best restaurants and now..."

"Now, you're slummin' it with us and lovin' every second," Jasper said.

"And, you're lucky you got friends at all, asshole," Emmett added.

They cracked more jokes as I drove along; mainly I listened and laughed, thankful that I had these guys in my life. Next to Taz, they were the best friends I'd ever had.

I was treating the guys to dinner as a thank you; for the last hour, they'd helped me move furniture around in my house in preparation for the arrival of my family tomorrow.

Last year, my family visited for Bella's surprise party. This time, they were coming for Tia's fourth birthday party which was happening on Saturday. My little cousin was now, legally, my adopted daughter and I couldn't imagine life without her.

My sister, Angie, and her husband, Eric, would be leaving for vacation Sunday morning, and my parents, Taz, and I would care for my triplet nieces for the week, just like last year. Taz's Aunt Chelsea and Chelsea's boyfriend, Peter, were coming for the weekend too. We had plenty of room for everyone, we just had to maximize the space.

* * *

Emmett loved Red Robin, and I'd been here with him several times. It was a bit noisy for my tastes but they had great burgers, "bottomless" baskets of fries, and good drinks, making it fairly easy to see why Emmett enjoyed the place so much no matter how much he also loved Bella's cooking.

After we placed our orders, Emmett got a text. After reading it, he let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Leah," he said, rolling his eyes. "Bell's pissed at me, so Leah had to chime in, of course."

"What did you do?" Jasper, Carlisle, and I asked simultaneously. Having been friends with him for a year now, we all knew that Emmett often suffered from foot-in-mouth disease.

"I suggested that we name the baby after Fe," he said.

Jasper, Carlisle, and I looked at each other, shook our heads, and groaned. It was no secret that Bella had despised Emmett's brother, Felix, before he died. Why Emmett thought she'd agree to name their first-born child after him was beyond me.

"I figured she wouldn't go for it," he said, "but I didn't think she'd flip out like she did."

"That wasn't the best idea you've ever had," I said with a chuckle.

"No shit," Emmett replied with a chuckle of his own as the waiter arrived with our drinks.

"You got plenty of time to come up with somethin' else," Jasper said.

That was true; Bella was a little over five months pregnant now; she wasn't due until December 11. They just recently found out they were having a boy and had been tossing around names ever since.

"I mean, damn, it was just a suggestion," Emmett said, still looking annoyed.

"I knew Bella couldn't stay calm for long," Carlisle said as we laughed.

Bella was in grad school, thoroughly enjoying her English Lit studies and her work as a research assistant. She was either at school or at home most of the time and she seemed happier than I'd ever seen her. She vowed to keep her temper in check and manage her time effectively so as not to stress the baby, but we knew Bella too well. She had a short fuse and we'd all been on the receiving end of it at one time or another; like Carlisle, I'd been expecting a major outburst at some point.

"Maybe Felix can be his middle name," Jasper said. "That's a compromise."

Emmett snorted and rolled his eyes again. "At the rate we're going, he'll be named Baby Boy McCarty."

"What about Emmett?" Carlisle said. "Do you want a junior?"

"I want him to have his own name," Emmett replied. "Be his own little dude."

"We didn't have a lot of drama picking Dannah's name," Carlisle said. "We wanted something really different. I saw it and liked it, suggested it to Rose, and she loved it. I'm glad it wasn't a problem."

"You picked the wrong name anyway," I said. "Baby J is much more fitting."

The guys howled with laughter, even Carlisle. I actually came up with Dannah's nickname, and the gang loved it. 'Baby J' was short for 'Baby Judgmental' because Rose and Carlisle's daughter, 4-month-old Dannah, wasn't one of those happy smiley babies who went to anybody.

A Cullen through and through, Dannah seemed suspicious of people, just like her Uncle Caius whom she most resembled. She was only just now getting used to the gang, and all of her looks and stares at us seemed to say, "I'm judging you; you're not worthy." The guys and I swore that she'd scowled at us on more than one occasion. Rose told us we were full of shit but she laughed at the nickname too.

"Here's proof that your nickname is invalid," said Carlisle as he pulled out his phone and showed us a picture of Dannah, smiling for the camera while Rose held her. Dannah's smiles were clearly reserved for the people who mattered to her: Rose, Carlisle, Caius, and Vicky.

We didn't tease Carlisle any further about Dannah. The reverent look on his face as he looked at his daughter spoke volumes. He was nothing like the cold, guarded man who'd walked into the yard sale last year. His wife and child had awoken something in him; he was like a new person.

We talked more until our food arrived, then we caught up over our meal.

"What's the latest on the wedding front?" Carlisle asked Jasper.

"I'm 'bout ready to give Mama and Sara a pair of boxin' gloves," he said as I almost spit out my soda from laughing. "Let 'em duke it out somewhere. I'm sick of the fightin'."

We all saw this coming; his Mom, Sharon, and Esme's mother, Sara, were very opinionated. I was certain they'd butt heads for years to come.

"_Everything's_ a damn fight," Jasper added as he shook his head. "Should we have barbeque for dinner, should we wear boots, should it be outside, should we let kids come to the reception. I'm startin' to wish I'd eloped like you did."

"I have no regrets," Carlisle replied with a chuckle. "It was the best decision for us."

"What does Esme have to say?" I asked.

"_Mother only wants what's best for me; she means well_," he said in near perfect imitation of his fiancée as we laughed again.

"How's work going?" I asked Jasper.

"Good," he said. "Real good. I got so much more free time compared to what I had in school."

"Are you writing surveys?" I asked, knowing that was one of the aspects of his job as a consultant that he was most looking forward to.

"Some, yes," he replied. "But right now we're doing a big project, researchin' buying behavior. I love it. Me and Jay work good together."

Jasper took a job with a guy he knew from the social psychology program he graduated from and so far he was loving it. Jay lived in northern California and Jasper had traveled there a few times, and they'd traveled for some client meetings, but for the most part he worked from home. And home for him now meant Esme's condo. We'd helped him move in there when his lease ran out in May.

"How is it living with our sweet little Esme?" Emmett asked with a huge grin. Jasper gave a little grimace.

"Nothing takes the shine off things like living together, huh?" I asked.

"I mean, I know she was raised different, but..." He stopped himself from the rest of whatever he'd been planning to say and shook his head. "She's a little more high maintenance than I thought. I still love her though."

"Glad to hear it," Emmett said as we laughed again.

Esme was, to put it politely, not used to taking care of herself. Jasper had been complaining that he didn't think she could so much as boil water without help and had minimal domestic skills at best; she didn't seem all that concerned about learning how to do any of that stuff either. Just like when Taz and I first lived together, the bulk of the household responsibilities had been falling to Jasper, though admittedly, he seemed to be handling it better than I had back then.

"It'll take time for us to get into a routine," he said. "I'm not that worried."

"It seems like it's been months since I've even seen Esme," Carlisle said. "Busy lady."

"The show's doin' great; she works a lot," Jasper said. "Doin' more appearances and stuff too."

Thanks to Taz, I'd seen Esme's closet organization show on HGTV a few years back, but I liked her kitchen redesign show much better. Esme and her crew filmed kitchens all around the Seattle area. She'd even done the kitchen at Jake and Leah's new house in Jake's old neighborhood, but that episode hadn't aired yet.

"I feel like I saw her more when we didn't live together," Jasper added. "I miss her."

We teased Jasper mercilessly when he said that, making kissing noises at him, until our waiter interrupted.

"More fries, guys," he said as he put a fresh basket on the table and refreshed some of our drinks.

"She'll be at Tee's party," Jasper said to Carlisle when we settled down. "So you can see her then."

"I almost forgot," Emmett said. "I wanna read something to you guys." He smirked and looked at Carlisle before removing a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolding it, and reading it aloud.

_**Come to Jesus, People**_

_**...or at least come see his pimped-out new crib**_

_**When: Saturday, August 18, 2012, 10 am to 1 pm**_

_**Where: Merlin Avenue Church**_

**Those of you who haven't left your homes this year (you know who you are) may not have noticed that the old abandoned Merlin Avenue church isn't so old or abandoned anymore. **

**Late last year, local antiques broker Carlisle Cullen bought the church property. He's spent the better part of the year restoring the building and surrounding land for use as a museum/training academy. I don't really know what kind of training he'll be doing in there, but I hereby volunteer for live demonstrations should the need arise. *cough* _DudelookslikePaulWalker_ *cough***

Again, we screamed with laughter; I'd never seen Carlisle's face so red.

"There's more," Emmett said, though he was having difficulty finishing because he was laughing too.

**Back to the matter at hand, as all of you know (because you used to complain to me about it Every. Single. Day.), that property has been the bane of our existence for years. We'd clean it up then mere hours later, The Nameless Faceless Assholes would come right back and trash it all over again. And we won't talk about the many and assorted vermin that lived there; nope, we won't. **

**Well, folks, those days are over thanks to Mr. Cullen. He didn't just clean that place; he turned into something straight out of **_**Architectural Digest**_**. **

**Obviously, you can see the amazing outside for yourselves, but Carlisle's giving us lucky neighbors a one-time opportunity to tour the inside as well. So spruce yourselves up and come see on Saturday. Take a few minutes to thank him for removing the 'shabby' from our shabby chic little 'hood.**

**I'll be there; hope to see you too!**

**Peace out, **

**Martha Ricks, President, Merlin Community Association **

"Do you know her?" I asked when I stopped laughing.

"Yes, I've met Martha," Carlisle said as he continued to chuckle. "She's as crazy as that letter sounds. Where'd you get that?"

"From Jake," Emmett replied. "A friend of his lives right near there. Jake told me to show it to you. Apparently, you're all the talk around there; the neighbors wanna meet you. Jake didn't tell them he knows you; he wants to see what they'll say about you after they meet you."

We laughed again, Carlisle most of all.

"Ain't you the good community guy," Jasper said.

"Why _are_ you allowing mere peons into your shiny new place of business?" I asked.

"It was Uncle Cai's idea," Carlisle replied. "Good community relations. I think it's a great idea though." As he always did when he talked about his work, Carlisle looked excited.

The church Carlisle bought and renovated for his new business had been completed in June. We'd all seen it fully furnished and decorated a month ago: Emmett's Dad and stepmother, Steve and Vera, had their wedding ceremony and reception there.

Though Carlisle modernized the look somewhat by replacing some of the heavy stone on the facade with glass, the building still resembled a church on the outside. But the inside contained more than I could have imagined.

The top floor housed an office for Carlisle and a huge museum-like room filled with religious artifacts and books from his own collection. On the main floor, he'd restored the actual church auditorium area, complete with altar and pews. However, he'd removed the surrounding walls so that the whole floor was a fairly open space. Only a few support columns separated that central "church" area from the meeting and classroom spaces along the halls.

The basement of the church would be his big moneymaker though. It was a huge space, designed strictly for events. He hired an event planner and design team and the place looked amazing.

"I think you did it to get out of coming to the party," Emmett said with a smirk.

"No, we'll make the party on time," Carlisle said.

"I'm glad you mentioned that because we want all you guys to wait until around 3:00 to come," I said. "We don't want to scare off the other parents, and no offense, but all the gang together at the same time is a lot to handle. Taz said she'll say something to the girls, so I'm telling all of you."

"That's fine," "no problem," and "sure" were their replies.

It wasn't that we didn't want them there, we definitely did, and so did Tia. It's just that the gang took over every event, big or small. We knew they'd all come to the party, en masse, not only to be there for Tia on her birthday, but also to visit with our family.

Now that we were all so much closer, we even knew some of each other's extended family members, friends, and coworkers too. There were just so many people that even the smallest event usually turned into a giant affair. Especially on the weekends. This party was supposed to be for Tia and her friends, not really for all of us grown-ups.

"Are you sure you don't want me to call the party place?" Emmett asked. "There's still time to get a bouncy castle."

I laughed. "Tee doesn't want that. We asked her."

"I don't want her to have a lame party," he replied.

"She's a quiet little girl who likes to read," I replied. "She's not you."

"How many kids are coming?" Carlisle asked.

"Eight," I replied. "Six from her class, plus Nettie and Chris."

Rose's niece, Nettie, and her family had actually visited quite a few times this year. Chris had been the ringbearer at Bella and Emmett's wedding. We'd arranged several playdates for all three of them this year, and Tee definitely wanted to invite them.

"What're you doin' for the party?" Jasper asked. "I don't really know much."

"Having fucking Story Hour," Emmett said as we laughed again.

"We hired two women who entertain at kids' parties," I said. "They wear costumes if you want, and they make balloon animals too. They'll lead all the games and stuff, and read to them at one point, but there won't be a whole reading hour." I rolled my eyes at Emmett as he laughed.

"With Alice involved, I'm sure there's a theme," Jasper said knowingly.

"Oh yeah," I replied. "Super Why. That's Tee's favorite show."

"Is that a cartoon?" Emmett asked. "I don't know that one."

"You wouldn't," I replied with a smirk. "Too educational." Again, the guys laughed.

"It's a cartoon about a group of kids who have a book club and go on adventures through books," I said.

"That sounds right up her alley," Jasper said.

"She'll love it," Carlisle said.

"What about a clown?" Emmett asked eagerly.

"She wants a Super Why party," I repeated slowly as they laughed at my delivery. "And remember, come a little later, around 3:00. We don't want your asses scaring off the other parents, and we don't need help setting up the clubhouse."

"You're ashamed of us," Emmett said sarcastically, "we get it. We won't embarrass you."

We laughed yet again, like we always did, as we finished our food.

* * *

**Friday, August 17, 2012**

"Almost outta here," I said to Fresco who looked like he couldn't take another second of the sheer chaos going on in the house around us. Even Tempo, who generally loved noise and attention, appeared to have had enough.

Since my family's arrival this morning, my nieces, Ashley, Kristen, and Nicole, had been having a great time walking, stumbling, and falling through the house, babbling, screaming, and giggling as loud as they wanted, scaring the shit out of Tempo and Fresco in the process. The girls were 17-months old now and they did _not _sit still.

Before I could hook on the dogs' leashes, Emmett called me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I know you're really busy right now, but could I swing by?"

"Sure," I said. "I'm about to walk the dogs, but you can come."

"That's cool, see you in a few," he said. I'd barely tucked my phone back in my pocket when Tia called to me from her playroom, which used to be our old sitting room.

"Daddy," she said, "we want Bubba Guppy."

"Few more minutes, guys," I said to the dogs, who seemed to realize we wouldn't be leaving just this second. They dejectedly plopped back down on their dog beds in what used to be our dining room. We sold our dining room set which we never used anyway, and now the space was theirs, with a couch, two big dog beds, a TV, and all of their toys and necessities.

I made my way to the playroom where Tee sat on the floor with Nettie playing. I put on the Bubble Guppies and moved out of the way as requested. I loved that Tee was so comfortable here; it had taken some time, but she now fully accepted us as her parents and this as her home.

I attracted an audience as I got the dogs ready for their walk: my nieces and AJ, Nettie's 14-month-old brother, all seemed fascinated by, not afraid of, our very large dogs. When the doorbell rang, the kids followed me to the door, baby-talking the whole time.

"Hi!" said Ashley to Emmett before he stepped inside. It was hilarious watching the kids crane their necks up to look at him.

"Hey," Emmett said with a huge grin. "Shouldn't you guys be asleep?"

"Yeah," I said, looking down at their not-sleepy-at-all faces. "Almost time for night night."

I knew that they understood "night night" because my sister had been telling them they were going "night night" for the last hour, only she and my Mom were too busy talking and laughing to put the girls to bed.

"No ay!" yelled Nicole and they all took off back toward the kitchen.

"Damn they got big!" Emmett said as he walked inside. "I can't believe they're walking and talking and shit."

"They can say hi and bye, Ma and Da, stop, and no way," I said proudly. Emmett found this hilarious, clutching his stomach as he laughed before he turned to the playroom.

"What's up, buttercups?" he asked.

"Nuffin', puffin," Tia replied as Nettie giggled. My daughter and Emmett had a whole slew of rhyming greetings they used on each other; Emmett had taught her most of them himself though Bella helped her out with a few of them.

Tee ran to Emmett who picked her up and kissed her cheek as she squealed in delight.

"You know something about a birthday tomorrow?" Emmett asked me with a confused expression as he held Tee.

"Me!" she said excitedly. "It's my birthday."

"Oh," Emmett replied, slapping himself on the forehead. "That's right. I forgot. Are you excited?"

She nodded as Nettie piped up. "I'm coming to the party too," she said.

"That's gonna be some party then," Emmett said as he set Tia back on the floor. She hugged his leg before she went back to watching TV.

"Who all's over here?" he asked as we walked toward the noisy kitchen. "It's loud as hell."

"You'll see," I said. In addition to Taz, Mom, Angie, Chelsea, and the kids, Rose, Dannah, Maggie, Esme, and Sara were here too.

"No wonder your Dad left with Charlie," he replied, stopping to greet the dogs who leapt up at him eagerly.

"Peter and Eric went too," I said. "This is insane."

Charlie, and Bella's stepmom, Sue, had kind of temporarily relocated to Seattle since the birth of Jake and Leah's son, Sky, two months ago. Charlie wasn't all that happy about the "move" and had been back to Forks several times to check on their house and such, but Sue didn't seem intent on leaving anytime soon, especially since there was plenty of room in Leah and Jake's new house.

Leah always used to joke that Sue would consider Leah's baby hers, and she hadn't been lying. But so far, Jake and Leah really seemed to appreciate her help; they were both a little overwhelmed by life with the new little guy.

It hadn't taken Peter, Eric, or my Dad long at all to become annoyed with all the party talk. Dad called Charlie just a few hours after they got here. They all left for dinner and a movie a little while ago.

Mom grabbed and hugged Emmett as soon as his foot touched the kitchen floor, and everyone else greeted him enthusiastically.

"Congratulations," Chelsea said as she grinned at him.

"Thanks," he said, "we still can't really believe it."

"You'll be a great dad," Mom said to him as the others agreed. They were all in the kitchen but for Rose, who sat nearby in the family room nursing Dannah.

While us guys understood that breastfeeding was a normal thing, that didn't negate the fact that none of us had ever really been around pregnant women. It took time for all of us to get used to Rose whipping her boobs out all the time. I guess her comfort around us was a sign that she truly considered us family.

"Where's Bella?" Rose asked.

"Home with Lee and Sue," Emmett replied. "She said she'll see you all tomorrow."

At the mention of Leah, my Mom asked how baby Sky was doing, which launched them all into an entire discussion of the new and possible future babies.

"Ready?" I asked Emmett as I handed him Fresco's leash.

"Definitely." He led Fresco out onto the deck. Before I made it out, my sister cornered me.

"Did Eric leave?" Angie asked. "He's not answering his phone."

"Haven't seen him," I said noncommittally, even though I knew he'd slipped away with Dad and Peter.

"You're a shitty fucking liar," she said as she shook her head at me.

"Mouth, Angela," Mom said, turning from her conversation to frown at my sister as the others laughed.

At this point, Fresco started barking he was so ready to leave which finally got us on our way.

"So what's up?" I asked Emmett as we walked the rambunctious dogs.

"Dude, Leah and Sue came over, and they're picking out stuff for Bella's baby registry," he said. "They're talking about breast pumps and nipple cream and all kinds of shit. I couldn't take it anymore. Who ever heard of nipple cream?" He gave a shudder.

I could do nothing but laugh. "I gotta admit, I had no idea it was all so involved."

"How the fuck _would _we know?" he asked. "I know I'm gonna have to deal with it all when the baby comes, but I'm glad Jake and Carlisle went first. I couldn't handle it if it was just me."

"It's good we have each other," I said.

Carlisle first, and now Jake, vented their frustrations, thoughts, and experiences as new dads with us on a regular basis. We didn't know any more than they did about any of this stuff, but we listened and laughed with them which was all they really needed.

"Oh shit," I said as I noticed a couple of neighbors jogging toward us. "This is that guy I was telling you about."

"I've seen them," Emmett said. "They live in my building. They're pressed as hell."

We couldn't say more because the couple was already in front of us.

"They're getting so big!" said the woman, who stopped her jogging to rub Fresco on the head.

"Yup," I replied.

"They're very well cared for," said the guy, "you and your wife do a great job."

"Thanks," I replied. "They're part of the family."

"I've always loved Weimaraners," the woman said. "My grandparents had one when I was a kid. He was bigger than either of these two though."

"The vet says they're about as tall as they'll get, but they'll still put on more weight," I said.

Tempo and Fresco weighed about 65 pounds each now; I couldn't imagine them much bigger, but the vet insisted they weren't done growing.

"It's kinda late; we better get going," I said as I tried to keep walking. Tempo was not having it, however, as he was enjoying all the attention.

"I keep saying we have to do lunch with you and your wife," the guy said to Emmett, completely ignoring my attempt at leaving.

"Yeah, we're crazy busy though," Emmett said. "Hard to pin us down."

"We're new to the area and we don't know many people," said the woman, turning to me. "We'd love to hang out sometime."

"Yeah, we'll see," I said quickly. "We really need to get back; I've got family in town. Good to see you." I quickly started walking even though Tempo whined a little. Emmett, with Fresco, followed suit.

"I've seen him three times and he says that every fucking time," Emmett said when we were out of earshot. I cracked up laughing.

"No new additions to the gang," I said with a big grin.

"Agreed," he replied, smiling back at me. "Membership is closed."

There were more people in the community now, and this wasn't the first time we'd all encountered other people in the neighborhood wanting to hang out. Taz and I experienced it more than the others because we walked the dogs so much.

Regardless, the fact remained that we liked the gang exactly as it was. We were damn near family, not just neighbors; we were _supposed_ to be in each other's lives. These new people might be nice, and maybe we were being a little un-neighborly, but our circle of friends had expanded as much as we wanted or could handle.

* * *

Emmett and I walked the dogs and talked for almost an hour and when I got back home, Rose, Esme, and their families had left. The guys hadn't returned yet, and the house was pretty quiet. I couldn't wait to take a shower and go to sleep; today had been busy, and tomorrow would be even busier. However, my progress to the bedroom was impeded by Nicole who stood at the top of the stairs, peering through the baby gate.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked as I stepped over the gate and smiled down at her.

"No," she said, pointing her little finger at me before launching into some kind of hilarious baby-babble rant; I had no idea what I'd done to offend her. I picked her up to return her to my sister.

When they'd been here last year, I really couldn't tell much difference between the girls. But now, it was easy to tell them apart even when they weren't together. Nicole looked the most like Angie, with her straight brown hair, though her eyes were almost hazel in color.

Kristen's hair was lighter brown and was much shorter than either of her sisters. Her eyes were a gray-blue color; she looked the most like Eric.

Ashley was the only one who had wild bronzy hair like me and Mom, but Ash's eyes were a clear brown not green like ours. When they were together, you could definitely tell they were sisters though. I thought they were incredibly cute even if I was a little biased since they were family.

I carried her down the hall to the room where Angie and Eric were staying with the girls. My Mom and Angie were in the process of changing Kristen and Ashley who seemed much sleepier than Nicole.

"How come Nic's wide awake?" I asked as I carried Nicole into the room.

"She's the nosiest," Angie said with a grin. "She wouldn't want to miss anything."

"I don't know what I did to her, but she just cussed me out in baby talk," I said as they laughed.

"She's feisty," Mom said with a warm smile after she put Kris into one of the cribs.

I talked with them more, and before long they turned the conversation onto me.

"Tee's so happy," Angie said. "You two have done great with her."

"Thanks," I said. "It's hard to believe it's almost been a year that she's been here."

"I'm glad it's all working out," Mom said. "I had my doubts at first."

Angie snorted and I laughed outright. "No kidding," I said as my Mom rolled her eyes at both of us. She had been very vocal about what she felt we were doing wrong when Tia first got here.

"By the way, Edward, the girls love your music," Mom said, completely changing the subject as she put some toy in the crib with Ash. "We play your album for them all the time; they love it."

"Yeah, puts 'em right to sleep," Angie said as she smirked at me. She knew I couldn't reply with the language I normally would have with Mom standing right there.

In April, I independently released my very first album which I also wrote, performed, and produced. My goal was to sell 1,000 copies and already I'd sold about 7,500. My family and the gang all promoted the heck out of it to all their friends, as did some of my friends from the WTA and my old college music department. I was beyond pleased by the success and the feedback. I wasn't doing Adele-type numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but for me and what I wanted to achieve, I was thrilled.

"I'll call my next album _Music for the Angry Soul_," I said to my sister. "It'll be just for you." We cracked up laughing.

"Be nice, Angie," Mom said. "I've been checking those charts on iTunes. Your brother's album is doing very well."

Angie and I both stopped teasing each other long enough to do a double take. My parents were not the most technologically advanced people in the world and it was a running joke between Angie and me how Mom never used any of the tech gadgets we gave her.

Mom looked very smug at our shocked expressions. "Sharon's cousin is in a band. She sent me some links where I can check all the music charts on iTunes and Billboard, and a few other places too," she said, obviously pleased with herself.

Jasper and I talked all the time about how our moms had become best friends since the surprise party. Mom and Sharon talked quite often.

"I'm impressed," I said.

"That'll teach you two to be haters on me," Mom said. Angie and I looked at each other and laughed so hard we grabbed each other to keep from falling over.

"We're sorry for being _haters_," Angie said as she wiped her eyes.

"_On_ you," I added as the three of us laughed together.

Sometimes I wondered if my relationship with my sister would have ever improved so much had it not been for Emmett and the surprise party last year. Not that we talked all the time or anything, but Angie and I were closer than we'd ever been and that pleased both of my parents. Just another good outcome from my friendship with the gang.

* * *

**Saturday, August 18, 2012**

Since I'd been roused from sleep by the noise created by a house full of relatives, all of whom were still on Chicago time, I grudgingly dragged myself from bed and got ready for the day. I opened the bedroom door and was greeted by one of said relatives.

"Hi," said Nicole, standing in front of my bedroom door in an undershirt and diaper.

"Hi," I replied, chuckling. "You again?" I knew she wouldn't understand me but she giggled and baby talked back at me nonetheless. I picked her up and took her to Angie and Eric who were dressing her sisters.

"Think ya missed one," I said as they both laughed.

"Nic's fast," Eric said with a smile.

"Definitely a future track star," Angie said with a smile. I watched as she brushed Ashley's hair and put her little outfit on her. Motherhood had definitely revealed a softer side of my sister.

"Who knew you had all this motherly-ness in you?" I remarked as Eric laughed.

"You are so itching for a big-sis beatdown," she replied as she took Nicole from me.

I left them to get the girls ready and I could smell breakfast from downstairs. My Mom was in her element having all of us together like this. I walked toward Tia's room and smiled at the scene inside. Tia sat on Chelsea's lap, talking away, while Taz looked through her closet.

When she looked up, Tia ran to me. I scooped up my daughter and held her tightly. There was nothing I wouldn't do for this little girl.

"Hi, birthday girl," I said.

"Hi, Daddy," she said with a blinding smile.

"Good morning," Chelsea said, standing up while Taz smiled behind her. "I'll see you all downstairs."

"It's my party today," Tee said as I sat down and placed her in my lap.

"I know," I said. "Are you ready to see all your friends?"

"Yeah," she said, unable to contain her smile.

"Let's show Daddy the pretty dress Aunt Chelsea got you for the party," Taz said. She held up a poofy white-and-yellow dress. Not something Tee would wear at all.

Yesterday, Tia showed me the Super Why tee shirt Bella gave her specifically for the party; it had Princess Presto, Tia's favorite character, on the front. She had it laid out with the shorts she wanted to wear.

"I thought you wanted to wear your shirt from Aunt Bella?" I asked Tee who'd gone very quiet in my arms.

"But don't you want to dress up for your party?" Taz asked. "This is such a pretty dress."

"I like that pitty close," Tee whispered, pointing to the shirt from Bella that lay where she left it last night. I raised an eyebrow at Taz who looked about ready to make another plea for Chelsea's dress.

"It's your party," I said to Tee. "You can wear what you want. Do you want to wear the shirt you showed me?" She looked up at me and nodded.

"Then that's what you'll wear," I said. "Right, Mommy?" Taz still looked like she wanted to protest, but gave in when she saw the hopeful look on Tia's face.

"Right," she said. Tia smiled brightly.

"Can I wear my base-it?" Tee asked.

"Sure," Taz said. "We'll put it on now so we won't forget." She took the tiny gold bracelet from Tia's dresser and fastened it to her wrist.

Tia wasn't one for jewelry; she'd refused Taz's attempts to get her ears pierced. But this bracelet had been given to her by an aunt on her father's side; Tia understood that it was from family she didn't see a lot, and it seemed to hold special meaning for her.

Tia's grandmother, Ann, had died this past March. My Mom kept in touch with several of Ann's relatives, and we took Tee to see them when we visited Chicago earlier in the year. They all were happy we could take Tia because they were older like Ann, and there just wasn't much family left for them, and none young enough to raise a little girl.

"You all better come down to breakfast before it's all gone," Mom said as she entered the room. "I made your favorite pancakes, Tee."

Tee took Mom's hand and followed her downstairs. I grabbed Taz and pulled her back before we could follow.

"I know you meant well, Mommy," I said with a smirk. "But Tee's just not a dressy dress kind of girl."

"Don't remind me," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Freakin' Bella and her freakin' tee shirts. I just want Tee to be the star at her party."

"She doesn't care about being the star," I said. "She just wants to be with her friends. As long as she's happy, who cares what she wears?" I rubbed her arms and kissed her head.

Taz meant well, she really did, but I think that she obsessed about Tee's clothes because she wanted clothes to be their "thing", their way to connect. This was a recurring issue with her: trying desperately to find something to "connect" with Tia because she didn't feel like she was a good mom. She didn't say it in so many words, but I knew it worried her.

"You're a good mom," I said. "Tee's lucky to have you. She loves you."

"I love her too," she whispered as she leaned against me.

Tee loved Taz; I saw it in all of their interactions. I knew it would take time for Alice to accept that though, and I'd just have to be patient. We'd only had Tee since last October, and I couldn't expect everything to be "perfect" in less than a year's time. Things for the most part had gone as well as could be expected, and I was pleased. I loved my family and I'd do anything to keep them happy.

* * *

"This is as close as we're gonna get to the Book Club in Storybook Village," I said.

"I think it looks great," Angie said.

"Tia will love it," said Chelsea, smiling in agreement.

"You're lucky you can use this clubhouse," Eric said.

"That's the truth," Taz said as she hugged me. "It really is a great location."

We all stood back, marveling at the decorations and areas we'd set up for the party. In the clubhouse living room, we'd placed two round light-blue plastic kids' tables with matching chairs in front of a series of easels. Each easel held a poster with a scene from Super Why; the easel in the middle held a picture of the giant red computer the kids on the show used for all their adventures.

We'd also arranged a bunch of balloons and streamers around the area to make it more colorful. A long table had been decorated and placed along the wall to hold the gifts for Tee; it also held the gift bags for the kids to take home as well as mini "computers" and other party favors.

Just like at the surprise party, we left an area near the front of the clubhouse for the triplets and AJ, so they wouldn't interrupt. My nieces were there now having a blast exploring. In the more open area of the clubhouse, we placed several long tables and chairs where the parents and the gang could sit, talk, and eat.

"Aww, it's so cute!" said Bella suddenly as she entered the clubhouse with Charlie and Emmett.

"Looks great, Tiny," said Emmett.

"I'm gonna make sure that TV still works upstairs," Charlie said as he headed up to the loft area.

"Think I'll join ya," Peter said. They headed up to the loft area and giant screen TV, undoubtedly to watch sports.

We had no time to chastise them for coming early because the clubhouse got much louder with the arrival of Rose, Carlisle, and the rest of their family: Dannah, Maggie, Nettie, AJ, and Vicky. Esme showed up with Caius and Sara right after they did. Jake, Leah, Sue, and Sky followed soon after.

All of them gushed over the decorations, while Taz and I looked at each other with somewhat confused expressions. We'd asked them all to come later, yet it was like they'd all decided among themselves to come early. It was 1:30 exactly, and their arrival at the same time was clearly not a coincidence.

"This is perfect," Sara said with a huge smile. "Alice you have a real talent for decorating." I noticed that Esme pursed her lips and gave a tight smile as she looked around the room.

"Thanks," Taz replied.

They all settled themselves in around the tables, clearly not going anywhere anytime soon.

"Where's Tee?" Leah asked.

"Mom and Dad are bringing her soon," Angie said as she sat next to Maggie.

My temper quickly got the best of me because I really couldn't believe this. Of course, we expected Nettie and Chris and their parents to come on time, since Chris and Nettie were kids and Tia specifically invited them. But I'd hoped the rest of the gang would have respected our wishes.

"So what part of come a little later so you don't overwhelm the other parents was unclear?" I asked loudly. I didn't really care if I sounded curt or blunt: I was pissed.

Emmett, Carlisle, Jake, Vicky, and Maggie immediately looked away, Sue and Sara looked confused, and Caius looked amused as he always did whenever there was tension of any kind.

Bella, Leah, Esme, and Rose looked at each other with smug grins, confirming for me that this was no coincidence.

"We thought you might need help setting up," Bella said dismissively. "Even though you didn't ask us."

"Besides, there's plenty of space here," Rose said, her tone a little frosty. "We won't be in the way."

"I thought I could help out with the triplets," Esme said with more attitude than I'd ever heard from her. "Since you wouldn't let me do anything else."

"Tee would be sad if we weren't here the whole time," Leah said as if that settled the matter.

"Well, at least Jasper respected our request," I said with attitude of my own.

"He'll be here as soon as he can," Esme said. "He has to finish some work."

"Look, you guys are obviously upset," Taz said in a calmer tone than mine. "We weren't trying to hurt anyone's feelings. We know you all love Tee. But you know how it is when all of us get together; it can get crazy and loud, fast. We didn't want that right at the start of the party."

"And we didn't have a lot of set-up to do, so we didn't ask you to help," I said, still not as calm as Taz. "It wasn't personal."

Rose rolled her eyes and Bella snorted loudly which _really_ pissed me off. However, the caterer arrived with the cake and the food, so I didn't have a chance to reply.

"Alice Masen?" the delivery guy asked. He looked hesitant to enter the room, clearly sensing all the tension. Taz showed him where to set everything up. In addition to the birthday cake and cupcakes, we ordered 50 bagged lunches and three platters: one with fruit, one with vegetables, and one with cheese and crackers.

We didn't know how many parents would be staying for the whole party, but we figured the gang would be here for a good while after they arrived, which was why we'd ordered so many bags. They were just like the ones we'd had the first night we'd met Emmett as we'd set up for the very first yard sale. Each brown gift bag contained a sandwich or wrap, a container with a side like pasta salad, a bag of chips, and a dessert. Simple and easy.

"Look," I said, growing angrier even as I tried to calm down, "we can't have all this tension with the parents and kids about to get here. If you guys had all this attitude about coming later, then you should have said something before now."

"Well, I don't appreciate you telling us to come later," Rose snapped. "We love Tee too."

"And I would have cooked, you didn't have to get catering," Bella said, just as brusquely as Rose. "But you didn't even ask."

"I would have done the decorations," Esme said, crossing her arms. "But I wasn't given the chance."

Emmett and Carlisle were looking back and forth between all of us; Maggie and Angie took Nettie and AJ and headed for the kitchen.

"We apologize, since we clearly hurt your feelings," Taz said with a sigh. "That wasn't our intention at all. But this party is not about us; it's for the kids."

"Some of the parents will probably stay," I said, "and we didn't want them overwhelmed, seeing the whole entire extended gang, as soon as they walked in the door."

That was clearly the wrong thing to say because Rose practically jumped out of her seat.

"You're bending over backwards for these other parents, like we're strangers or something," Rose shouted. "_We're _not the strangers here. We love Tee. They barely even know her."

"You act like we didn't invite you at all," Taz said, finally losing her cool which actually made me happy. "We just asked you to come a little later. It's not our fault you got all butt-hurt about it."

"You could have..."

Bella's retort was interrupted by an angry looking Jasper, who'd entered the clubhouse and clearly heard the whole exchange.

"Everybody shut the hell up," he shouted. "This is s'posed to be a kids' birthday party, not Wednesday dinner."

I could have actually kissed Jasper then and there, but he was far from done.

"Esme, it ain't your automatic right to decorate every party everybody has forever and ever." She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms even tighter.

"Same goes for you, Bella. Nobody has to ask your permission to eat what they wanna eat. If they wanted to get this catered, that's their own business." Bella frowned and turned her head.

"Rose, we all love Tee," he said. "It ain't a competition. But she has other friends, and Alice and Edward are gonna make friends with some of their parents. That don't mean they're replacin' you."

Rose pursed her lips and looked away as Jasper continued.

"We're all close like real family," he added in a calmer tone, "but we ain't gotta be joined at the hip. We don't have to invite each other to everything, or ask each other's permission to do simple shit. So, knock it off; everything ain't a personal attack."

Bella, Rose, Leah, and Esme looked at each other and hung their heads a little. I was so glad Jasper was here because frankly I was stunned that this had blown up like this.

"Thanks, Jas," I said. Taz hugged him and whispered something to him before she walked over to talk with Esme, Rose, Leah, and Bella. They were all hugging and apologizing to each other in seconds.

"I love hanging out with all of you," Caius said loudly as he smirked. "It's better than reality TV. Always drama."

Sara slapped him on the arm, but his comment , of course, effectively got everyone laughing, so much so that we didn't notice the arrival of the latest guests, who'd clearly overheard Jasper's rant: Steve and Vera.

"I knew there was a temper under that calm exterior," said Vera with a chuckle as she hugged Jasper. "You are definitely your mother's son." He laughed and blushed a little. Jasper really didn't like to get so upset, but sometimes it was called for, this being one of those times, in my opinion.

"Hey, married lady," I said as I hugged her next and then spoke to Steve. Most of us hadn't seen them since they'd come back from their honeymoon so they were greeted enthusiastically. I knew they'd come, mainly to see my parents.

"So, even though we're not supposed to be here yet, are we allowed to eat or what?" Emmett yelled.

"Have at it, Bunyan," said Taz with a chuckle.

"Is some of that food for the kids though?" Bella asked.

"No," I replied. "We're making mini pizzas for them later on. Those bags and platters are for the adults; help yourselves."

"Food, guys," Emmett shouted up to the loft.

Charlie and Peter quickly came down to join the others. We watched our friends make themselves at home around the tables, and dig into the bags of food as well as the sodas and bottles of water we'd already put in the fridge.

"Were we wrong?" I asked Taz, still unable to see how things had gotten so heated.

"No," she said. "Our crime was planning the party without them, which we were well within our rights to do. Maybe we shouldn't have asked them to come later, but I didn't think it would be that big a deal."

"I'm glad this happened though," I said. "There's definitely going to be school events and other things we can't even think of right now that they all won't be able to go to. There's just too many of them. We won't be able to come to everything for their kids either."

"You're right," she said. "I'm glad Jasper was here to put it in perspective."

"Never thought I'd hear those words comin' from you," Jasper said with his grin. He'd obviously overheard Taz's last remark. We laughed with him until the next group arrived: Jane, Waylon, Chris, and Chris's Mom, followed by Donna and Ellen, the entertainers.

"Hi, Edward," they said.

"Hi. Love the outfits," I replied as they laughed.

Both women wore brightly colored wigs, one pink and one light blue; they each also wore very baggy white pants and smocks that matched the color of their wigs. I could see the balloons for the animals they would make in the pockets of the smocks. They looked ridiculous to adult eyes, but I knew they were dressed very appropriately for their target audience of four-year olds.

"Where can we get set up?" asked Ellen. I led them to the Book Club area, which they loved, and Taz came and went over the schedule for the party.

A high-pitched shriek moments later announced Tia's arrival with my parents.

"I love my party!" she said before running straight into the Book Club.

"I would call that a success," said my Dad as everyone laughed.

* * *

Hurt feelings and empty stomachs out of the way, our friends and family were on their best behavior when the kids and parents started arriving.

"Hi, Samantha. Bye, Samantha," Taz said as a red-haired girl with glasses ran right past us to join Tia, Chris, and Nettie who were already talking animatedly with Ellen and Donna in the Book Club.

"She's a little excited, as you can see," Samantha's mother, Amy, said.

Of the parents in Tia's class, Amy was hands down the youngest, or she looked it anyway. Taz and I were convinced she was a trophy wife. She kind of looked like a blonde version of Rose's sister Vicky and she was always dressed so as to flaunt her wealth and assets. We'd never met Samantha's father though.

"Here's Tia's gift," Amy said, "I'll be back by 6 to get Sam."

"Thanks. Sounds good," Taz said.

"Oh my god," Amy said as she turned to leave. "Caius?"

"Hello, Amy," he called from his seat amongst the rest of the gang.

"A kid's birthday party is the last place I'd expect to run into you," she replied as they laughed together. The rest of us looked at each other with smirks and raised eyebrows. Caius had been known to get around in his younger days; I couldn't help but wonder if Amy had been one of his conquests.

"Is that Alan's little girl?" Caius asked.

"Yep," she replied. "Is she yours?" She motioned to Dannah whom Caius was holding.

"My granddaughter," he replied with a big grin. Dannah was technically his great-niece but most people thought Carlisle was his son, so it was a simpler explanation.

"She's beautiful. I'll tell Alan I saw you. Bye." Without a glance or word to anyone else, she left. We all turned to Caius who was quick to defend himself.

"What?" he asked. "I didn't sleep with her."

We all cracked up laughing, even Sara laughed and shook her head.

"You can't blame us for being suspicious," Bella said.

Caius smiled. "I actually know her husband. Believe it or not, he's older than I am. I had no idea he had such a young child. Kid looks just like him."

"We've never seen Samantha's dad," I said. "We wondered about him though."

"I can't believe she just left her here," Jane said, looking alarmed.

"Samantha and Tee are pretty close," Taz said. "Amy's comfortable with us; I guess she just needs a break."

Further conversation was halted by the arrival of Mykah, who, like Samantha, completely ignored us as she ran into the clubhouse to join the other kids.

"Hey, Kim; hey, Joe," I said to her parents who were laughing with Taz.

"Hey, Edward," Joe said.

"Excited is not even the word to describe her right now," Kim said as she handed a gift bag to Taz.

Mykah was black, and Taz and I were glad that she and Tee had become friends. Tee was biracial and we always worried about her losing part of her background and identity. We didn't want that to happen, but it wasn't like we had the most diverse group of friends. We were happy that in the future, if Tee had concerns or questions about race that we couldn't answer, she'd at least know someone she could talk to, even if they didn't always remain as close as they were now.

We began introducing Kim and Joe to the gang but Kim stopped when we got to Jake.

"You're one of the E.J. Tours guys," she said.

"Yup, I'm the J, Jake," he replied with a grin. "There's the E over there." Everyone laughed as Emmett came forward and introduced himself.

"I work in the Marketing department at the Aquarium," Kim said. "We got your press release and some of your ads. Your pictures are... um... popular, around the office." Everyone fell out laughing.

We constantly teased Jake and Emmett about their faces being plastered all over their ads for their tour business; clearly though, it was working because they were lining up business left and right. Jake and Emmett eagerly talked with Kim as Joe struck up conversation with the rest of the group.

Next to arrive was Daniel, a blond kid who according to Taz, looked like Dennis the Menace. Thankfully, he didn't act like that. He actually stopped and spoke to us.

"Hi, Tee Mom; hi, Tee Dad," he said before he too ran inside to the other kids.

"Hi, Tom, and Jen," Taz said to Daniel's parents.

"We weren't sure whether we should stay or not," Tom said as Taz began the introductions again. Jen handed me a wrapped present.

"It's up to you," I said. "We've got food, and plenty of seats." After warily looking at the large group of people, they decided to stay and Mom started the next round of introductions.

Preeti was the next to arrive. We waved to her Dad who was just dropping off his wife, mother, and daughter. I could almost hear his brakes squeal he pulled off so fast.

"Bathroom?" asked Shanti, Preeti's heavily pregnant mother.

"Right over there," Taz said with a chuckle.

"I think this is my favorite one yet," Taz said of the sari Preeti's grandmother wore. "I love the material."

"Thank you," she said as she passed over her gift.

"It really is beautiful," my Mom said. "I'm Tia's grandmother." While they talked, I caught Angie's eye and we both smirked; Mom was loving this. I had never realized how social she was until the surprise party last year.

"Sorry about that," Shanti said as she returned from the restroom.

"I didn't think you'd come," I said. "I hope your doctor's on speed dial."

She laughed as she made her way to a nearby seat. "I couldn't bear to lay around the house for one more second. I had to get out."

"When are you due?" Rose asked.

"This past Tuesday," Shanti replied as everyone groaned.

"I'm realizing how lucky I was," Rose said with a huge grin, pointing to Dannah. "I was a few weeks early."

"I was over, just like you," said Leah. "But he finally decided to grace us with his presence before I had to get induced." She pointed to Sky who, as usual, was resting comfortably in Sue's arms as she fed him a bottle.

"And I'm starting to get nervous," Bella said as she rubbed her own stomach. "So far, Rose is the only person I know who delivered early." Her eyes were wide as she looked at Shanti's stomach which was bigger than Rose's had been at the end.

Taz and I felt that Bella's stomach was surprisingly small considering she was carrying Emmett's child and he was such a big guy. But then again, Jane, Emmett's Mom, had carried Emmett and his brother at the same time, and she was tinier than Bella.

They talked and mingled more as Taz and I went back to the entrance just as Iris and her parents arrived.

"Miss Ali!" Iris said as she hugged Taz.

"Hey, girlfriend," Taz replied.

Iris, who actually looked a little like Taz with short dark hair and bright gray eyes, was every bit a girly girl; I was convinced that was why she'd connected with Taz so much. They were kindred spirits. Today, she wore a dress as frilly as the one Chelsea had wanted Tee to wear.

"This place looks great," Bonnie, Iris's Mom, said when she walked inside.

"Is this a dry party?" Doug, her Dad, asked as we all laughed. So far, he looked to be the parent least enthused about being here. But then again, that was also how he normally looked.

"Sorry, but yes," Taz replied as she laughed. They walked over and talked with the parents and the gang.

"Kazi!" yelled the kids as the last child flew by us to meet his friends. His whole name was Kazuhiro, but the kids had shortened it a bit.

"So, will we be the bad parents if we leave and go to the movies?" asked Jin, Kazi's Dad.

"Yeah, we may have already bought the tickets," his Mom, Hona, said with a grin.

"It's up to you," Taz said as she laughed. "As you can see, we've got plenty of adult supervision, he'll be fine if you want to leave."

"We'll say hi and mingle a little," Hona said as they walked inside and settled in to meet the others.

I stood behind Taz with my arms around her shoulders as we moved closer to the Book Club to watch Tee. She looked downright giddy.

"That look on her face makes it all worthwhile," Taz whispered.

"Definitely," I replied, unable to stop smiling.

"Calling all Super Readers to the Book Club," yelled Donna once she had all the kids assembled in front of her. The kids screamed and called out their names, just like on Super Why. And so began the birthday party.

* * *

"All the parents from Tee's class seem so cool," Emmett said.

"The ones here, yeah," I said. "This is only half of her class though; these are the kids she's friends with. Some of the other kids are real brats, and some of their parents are total asses."

"I have honestly never given a single thought to meeting the parents of other kids," Carlisle said as he shook his head. While Rose didn't seem to have a single worry or concern about parenthood, Carlisle obsessed over every aspect. Like Jake and Leah, he sometimes got very overwhelmed.

"You're bound to meet some of them," I said. "It's not that big a deal. It can be good for networking too."

"Well, I can tell you right now I won't be sitting around at every birthday party Sky ever goes to," Jake said.

"You just sat around for Tia's whole party, and she's not even your kid," Carlisle said as he rolled his eyes and we cracked up laughing.

"And you're full of shit anyway," Emmett said to Jake. "Cuz if Lee tells your ass to go to a birthday party with Sky, you'll do it."

Jake laughed louder than the rest of us because Emmett was right. Except for Jasper, we were all fairly whipped and we knew it.

Having taken a sufficient amount of pictures of the party to last a lifetime, I was sitting at a table at the back of the room with Jake, Emmett, Jasper, Eric, and Carlisle. Most of the women had gathered around the Book Club as Mom and Taz helped Tia open her gifts, and the parents from school who hadn't left talked amongst themselves and the rest of our family members.

"So what the fuck happened with the girls earlier?" I asked. "Did you guys know they were all pissed off?"

"I thought I was back at my house for a minute with all that shouting," Eric said as I laughed.

"Rose instigated all that shit," Emmett said, looking annoyed. "Bell and Lee weren't all that upset until Rose got involved. No offense, Carlisle." To my surprise, Carlisle fell out laughing.

"Tell me something I don't know," he said, still chuckling. "I realize now that Rose is one of those people who needs to be working or else she meddles. I love that she's home with Dannah, but she's going to have to find something else to do soon. She's thinking of getting a car to restore and I'm all for it."

Rose said that even though she loved selling cars, she didn't feel like she could give it the same commitment now that she had Dannah, so she'd decided not to return to work. Carlisle was right; she'd been much more involved in all of our lives lately and like him, I was hoping she'd find something to do with herself soon.

"So it was Rose who got all worked up about it?" I asked.

"I think they all were put out about not bein' included," Jasper said. "Esme was makin' little comments for a long time about how y'all didn't ask her to decorate. I think Rose just added fuel to the fire."

"Bell kept asking me if you'd said anything about the party plans," Emmett said, "but I didn't really know much until we went to dinner Thursday."

"Lee kept asking me too," Jake said. "And damn near bit my head off when I told her to ask Alice."

"Why_ didn't_ they just ask Alice?" Eric asked.

"They might have," I replied. "She'd have just told them it was taken care of because it was. This was a simple party; it really didn't take much to put together once Tee said what she wanted. You can print out most of the Super Why stuff right off the website."

"I didn't know Rose was _this_ upset until today," Carlisle said. "I think she felt like you guys were picking the other parents over her. Even though Vicky's here now, Rose still misses her family and you all kind of take their place. She's very possessive about all of you; you must have noticed that before now."

"Classic transference," Jasper said.

"Oh, _now_ you make a diagnosis," I said as they howled with laughter. "If you knew that, why didn't you say something earlier, or come with Esme before it all got out of hand."

"I didn't know they were all _that_ upset about it," he replied with a grin. "And when Esme left, I thought it was later close to 3:00; I was busy doin' work. But when I realized how early it was, I knew what was goin' on."

"And Bell told me this morning that we were all going at 1:30 and I better not have a problem with that," Emmett said, which caused more laughter.

"Thanks again for what you said earlier," I said to Jasper. "We _really_ didn't mean to hurt any feelings."

"It was gonna have to be said at some point anyway," Jasper replied. "We don't need each other's permission to do anything. We don't have to always do everything together."

We talked and laughed more and then I had a chance to ask Emmett and Jake something I'd been wondering about.

"How'd you both get off on a Saturday?" I asked. "I knew you both said you'd come, but I didn't expect you to stay the whole time."

"This is the first weekend our new hires are leading the tours," Jake said. "We probably won't lead any tours ourselves for the next month or so."

"We've got tons of shit to do the next few weeks," Emmett said. "The retail store's almost ready to open, and we've got more interviews to do. Plus, we're getting the lot for the buses ready with a new security fence and we're having it re-paved."

"Sounds like it's going well," Eric said.

"It is," Jake replied with a grin.

"Knock on wood," Emmett said, loudly rapping his knuckles on the table.

"You do know that's plastic, right?" Jake asked as we laughed all over again.

* * *

"Well that went great, in my opinion," Taz said.

"Mine too," I whispered. I didn't want to wake Tee who was asleep with her arms around my neck and her head on my shoulder.

After consuming cupcakes, the kids had crashed in front of the TV, having exhausted themselves from the excitement of the scavenger hunt around the clubhouse and the rest of the party games. When Donna and Ellen left, Tia asked me to bring Tempo and Fresco over so her friends could see them. That caused even more ruckus and combined with the sugar rush, the kids had run out of steam.

Bonnie and Doug were the last parents to leave, taking their sleeping Iris with them, and they'd only just left about ten minutes ago. All the parents who'd come had a great time talking with each other and with our friends and family. All of the lunches and platters of food had been eaten; there wasn't even any cake or cupcakes left.

Taz got up to say goodbye to Sue and Leah who were about to leave with Sky.

"I think that's the easiest cleanup we've ever had in here," said Jasper as he sat down beside me.

"True," I replied. "Another reason we wanted to keep it simple." The cleanup basically consisted of throwing away the trash, removing the decorations, putting Tee's gifts in our car, and putting the furniture back in place.

"Sara seems a little bit better with you," I said to Jasper. He rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"I kinda had to get loud with her a couple weeks ago, like I did here earlier," he said. "I don't like to be like that but..."

"Sometimes it's all people understand," I said. Esme walked over and smiled at me as she looked at Tee.

"It was a great party," she said. "Tee was so happy."

"Glad we only have to do one of these a year though," I said.

"Ready?" Jasper asked.

"Yes," she replied. "We'll see you soon, Edward."

I thought about leaving soon myself but Chelsea came and sat next to me.

"I had about as much fun as I could have at a kids' birthday party," she said as I smiled.

"I'm glad you came," I said. "We'd been wanting you to meet Bonnie and Doug." Iris's parents were both scientists too, just like Chelsea and Peter. Their specialties were different, but they'd all had a great time talking nonetheless.

"It's nice to have reasons to get away," she said.

"Alice misses you," I said. "It's always good when she gets to see you." She smiled warmly.

"I miss her too," she said. "But I don't worry anymore. She's so happy with you, and now with Tia. I never dreamed I'd get to see her like this."

"She makes me happy too," I said. "We're good together."

"You're with her all the time, so you can't see how much she's changed," she said. "That's because of you. Thank you."

We sat together quietly, until Taz herself walked over to us.

"I think we're all set," she said.

Only because Tia was still sleeping were we able to avoid the long goodbyes that ensued. Chelsea, Peter, Angie, and Eric were all leaving tomorrow which only added to the delay.

"She's really knocked out," Taz said, smiling as she looked at Tee in her car seat. Even Tempo and Fresco looked like they'd be asleep before we made it the short drive home.

"Sign of a good time," I replied.

"I never had a party like this," she said. "She'll always have this memory. I'm glad she has so many family and friends who love her."

"And pretty kick-ass parents too," I said. She looked over at me and smiled as I drove off.

* * *

**Sunday, August 19, 2012**

Thankfully, traffic wasn't too horrific on my way back from taking Angie, Eric, Chelsea, and Peter to the airport. When I pulled up to the house and walked inside, I found my nieces in the family room, preoccupied with some of their many toys while Tempo and Fresco sat watching them and the TV. Taz was stretched out on the couch behind them all, nearly asleep.

"Where is everybody?" I asked after responding to a chorus of greetings.

"Your Mom went with Sue over to Vera's to look at wedding and honeymoon pictures," she said. "She took Tee with her. Your Dad's out with Charlie."

"Why don't you move up so I can get behind you?" I asked.

"No," she replied. "I'm too comfortable."

"Okay," I said. "I asked nicely."

With much laughter and screaming from her, I climbed over her and squeezed myself behind her so that I was essentially spooning her. I draped my arm across her hip and she laced her fingers through mine.

"You're such an ass sometimes," she said, though she clearly enjoyed the contact.

"Mmmm. This is much more comfortable," I said. She smiled, then groaned when I nuzzled my face into her neck and kissed it.

"Rose called and said they're having dinner at their place," she said. "All the gang is going, but I told her I didn't think we'd make it."

"Good call," I said. "I'm exhausted."

"Me too," she said.

"I think you could be a professional party thrower for 4-year olds," I said as she laughed.

"If I could get Donna and Ellen to run everything I would be," she said. "They were great."

She turned to face me and ran her fingers through my hair; I fucking loved when she did that. "Are you hungry? You didn't eat anything before you left."

"Not for food," I said as I pressed myself against her.

She laughed. "Not in front of the little eyes," she said.

"C'mon," I begged as I pulled her hand and placed it on my cock. "They're totally distracted." My nieces were currently attempting to stack their toys as high as possible, which so far wasn't very high.

"It's like you're getting hornier as you get older," she said, shutting me down by removing her hand as she grinned. "I don't understand it."

"Hot wife," I replied. "I can't keep my hands off of her. It's her fault really." She shook her head and gave me a lingering kiss.

We were interrupted by Ashley who patted my arm.

"Bah bah," she said as she handed me one of the toys she'd been stacking on the floor.

"Thank you," I said. She grinned broadly and returned to her sisters.

"I can't believe how much personality they have," Taz said as I reluctantly backed away from her a little to cool my jets.

"I'm just glad they don't cry as much as before," I said.

"I was surprised to see how good Aunt Chelsea was with all the kids," she said.

"We had a heart-to-heart talk last night," I said.

"Uh oh. I hope she wasn't too hard on you," she said as she chuckled.

"She wanted to thank me for being so perfect and making your life so wonderful," I said. She turned back to look at me and laughed so hard that the girls started laughing too.

"Yeah, you are pretty perfect," she said, "in your own mind."

I laughed too. "Seriously, she said that she always worried about whether you'd ever really be happy and it makes her rest easy to see that you are. And it's all because of me." I smirked as she grinned back at me.

"The thing I love most is how modest you are," she said as I guffawed. "I mean, so many people like to puff their chests out and toot their own horns, but not you."

We laughed together until Nic brought over a toy for me to turn on which I did, even though it meant more noise.

"I am happy," Taz said, much more seriously. "We have a great life here. And it is because of you. I love you, Eds."

"I love you, too," I replied.

We kissed again, this time until the girls started fighting over something.

"I'm sure it would be nice to have a kid of our own," Taz said, "but I'm kind of glad we got to skip over the baby years with Tee."

"Agreed," I said. "Tee's the perfect age."

"We have to enjoy it now before she turns into a smart-ass teenager."

"My sweet little Tee?" I said. "Never."

"I'll remember you said that," she said with a grin.

We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around, relaxing, and playing with the girls. Eventually, I took Tempo and Fresco for their evening walk. On the way back, I saw Bella and Emmett who passed by me in his Jeep.

"Hey!" they said.

"Are you guys gonna make it up to Rose and Carlisle's?" Emmett asked.

"Nah," I said. "We're kinda wiped." I sounded tired even to my own ears.

"Come on," Bella said. "We'll help with the girls. You know it's not the same without you and Alice."

"How could it be?" I asked as they both cackled. "We're too tired. Have a good time; tell everybody we said hey."

"All right," Emmett said. "We tried. Talk to you soon." I smirked a little as they drove away because Bella looked like she wanted to protest more, but I think Jasper's talk yesterday kept her from doing so.

Even though I didn't feel bad at all about not going to Rose's dinner tonight, I could understand why they wanted us there. It wasn't just about me or Taz; the gang just wasn't complete unless we were all together. But we needed a break sometimes and they'd just have to accept that.

Fate had brought each one of us together, and nothing would ever keep us apart in the grand scheme of things. And in the end, that was all that really mattered.

**THE END**

* * *

**1. Sigh: **This is really the end of the _Wednesday Dinner_ universe. I have truly enjoyed writing this gang.  
- -I apologize for the delay in getting this done; I think I subconsciously didn't want it to end. Plus, it's football season and I'm *kind of* an obsessive fan ;0)  
- -The gang had to have one little "fight" before it was all said and done ;0p They're all good though.  
- -"Merlin Avenue" and "Merlin Community" are fictional for this story.

**2. Many, many thanks:  
**- -To everyone who read, reviewed, and/or followed the story. I have so appreciated all of your support and encouragement!

**3. Blogs:  
**- -You never know what'll happen with this site, so I've posted all _Wednesday Dinner_ stories on two blogs (links are in my profile).

**4. Fandom Fights Hurricane Sandy o/s: **I've decided to submit a Bella/Emmett one-shot for the "Fandom Fights Hurricane Sandy" compilation to do what little I can to help those affected by the storm. **The story will be something new, ****not**** related to **_**Wednesday Dinner**_**.**

- -I don't have it all outlined yet, but I do know that Emmett and Bella will work together in an office setting, and Emmett will be in a suit ;0) I love office stories, so I'm excited to see where this little plot bunny will lead.

- -For more information on the compilation, visit Fandom Fights Hurricane Sandy on blogger (I'll put a link in my profile).

- -**It'd be great if you could donate to get the compilation, but if you can't, we're allowed to post the stories in mid-January and I will post it here at that time.**

**5. **In the immortal words of Porky Pig:_**That's all, folks!**_


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